According to study ketamine, a drug used to start and maintain anaesthesia, can reduce suicidal thoughts in depressed patients. Researchers at Columbia University Medical Centre found that ketamine’s anti- suicidal effects occurred within hoursafter its administration.
Ketamine can, in certain cases, become addictive, and should be taken strictly under medical “There’s a critical window in which depressed patients, who are suicidal, need rapid relief to prevent self- harm,” said Michael Grunebaum, who led the study. “ Currently available antidepressants can be effective in reducing suicidal thoughts in patients with depression, but they can take weeks to have an effect. Suicidal, depressed patients need treatments that are rapidly effective in reducing suicidal thoughts when they are at highest risk. Currently, there is no such treatment for rapid relief of suicidal thoughts in depressed patients,” he added.
Most antidepressant trials have excluded patients with suicidal thoughts, limiting data on the effectiveness of antidepressants in this population. But, pervious studies have shown that low doses of ketamine causes a rapid reduction in depression symptoms and may be accompanied by a decrease in suicidal thoughts. The study was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Ketamine can, in certain cases, become addictive, and should be taken strictly under medical “There’s a critical window in which depressed patients, who are suicidal, need rapid relief to prevent self- harm,” said Michael Grunebaum, who led the study. “ Currently available antidepressants can be effective in reducing suicidal thoughts in patients with depression, but they can take weeks to have an effect. Suicidal, depressed patients need treatments that are rapidly effective in reducing suicidal thoughts when they are at highest risk. Currently, there is no such treatment for rapid relief of suicidal thoughts in depressed patients,” he added.
Most antidepressant trials have excluded patients with suicidal thoughts, limiting data on the effectiveness of antidepressants in this population. But, pervious studies have shown that low doses of ketamine causes a rapid reduction in depression symptoms and may be accompanied by a decrease in suicidal thoughts. The study was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
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